Mount Whitney

[Dhelihiker]

A friend and I decided to try to drive from San Francisco to the Whitney Portal (9hrs) and complete the 21mi 6000ft Asc and Desc. in less than 24hrs. I wouldn't be writing this thread if we didnt do it. We left SF at 2:30pm, arrived at the TH at 11:30, Parked slept for 3 1/2 hrs then up at 3:30 packing and eating, after a 20 minute loop around the parking lot looking for the trail we hit the road at 4:30 full steam ahead. Sunrise followed around 6:30 and we caught our first glimpses of the huge granite bowls


At 9:30 we Summited, exhausted having gone from Sea level to 14, 505 without any acclimitizing. I was a little dizzy, hands swollen and hungry but that was my only signs of the altitude. After a 45 min lunch we blazed trail back to the car at 2:15, making it 23:45 total time with a 9:45 round trip on the mountain. Not amazing, but not bad. Enjoy the pics

[Junker]

Sweet trip dude! Are permits needed for up/down in a day?

[kidwoo]

Kind of rad how you hovered enough to get those pics!!

sweet trip

I can't believe the elevation is worn off on that tab....what a ripoff.

just fyi "summits" is the name given to a bunch of internet ski dorks getting together.....not literal

[skiflorida]

Cool shots, I can't believe how different it looks without snow! It is hard to believe that the mountaineer's route is ever skiable.

[skiing-in-jackson]

Wow great pics. Never seen that perspective before. I've come up Whitney from the back side after finishing the lower part of the Muir Trail, it is nice to see the approach switchbacks. Spent the night on top of whitney...one of the best nights of my life.

Thanks again.

[Viva]

People unclear on the concept...

[upallnight]

I like the aerial shots.

The mountaineer's route is a fun ski & doesn't require a permit. it's possible to do in a day from the whitney portal parking lot...although it's super nice to start before it gets dark the night before on a night with a full moon & catch a few hours of sleep as soon as you get up on the platforms.

The first turns off the summit plateau are spicey!

Thanks for sharing. I won't point out that the title of this forum is sufficiently confusing for new folks....

[Wobbly Pirate]

I can't believe the elevation is worn off on that tab....what a ripoff.

Lou Dawson has a lot to answer for.

[Julio]

From my own Whitney trip last month. Notice my comment.

[upallnight]

just curious, when did you ski the MR's route? what time of year etc.

i just did the MR (up the MR and down the MMWT in a day) with some friends late last month. mostly did the MR to scope it as a winter ascent. the whole time i was trying to figure out how it would be as a ski mountaineering trip. anyhoo... PM me your beta and we can take it offline.

thanks E!

was early- to mid-may 2003.

will send you a PM once i clear out my box. it's sort of a cluster from the AT group buy thread.

if you've already done the MR route, you are in solid shape. the crux is finding your way up the right ledges on the lower 1/3 of the route. i was doing the route for the first time ever then, and i intended to start out under a full moon. i arrived earlier than expected, so i headed up during the last daylight. that was very fortunate....

as you know, the walls of that canyon are steep, so not much light gets in. had i not had the daylight, there's no way i would have found the path of least resistance up that ledge.

if you can get to whitney portal earlier in the year (big IF -- if not, you will will add quite a bit to the approach), you may be able to start skinning lower down and avoid the stream crossing/ledges as the snow will provide a natural ramp.

the descent from the summit plateau doesn't get skied much. most folks stash their ski gear at the top of the first couloir -- before you make the left-hand turn as you climb up. you do not want to fall on that first part. there are detahs there nearly ever year from people slipping while climbing up/down.

it's a cool route to ski, and the MR avoid the crowds & permits -- makes for a better experience.

[upallnight]

PS as mentioned earlier, i started up late in the day, took a nap for a few hours, then continued onward. i passed several tents of folks who camped at iceberg lake (i believe that's the one--above boyscout lake). i was nearly at the top of the route before they got out of their tents.

i was descending mid-morning. that particular year, there was great late-season snow, but temps around bishop were into the high 90s...so even at 14k things were getting cooked. i made it down the crux of the descent about as late as i'd ever want to. folks were just starting up while i was on my way down the couloir. they were going to be a couple hours too late, for sure. super dangerous.

there were a few spots around boyscout lake where i was sinking in knee-deep --WITH skis on!! -- in slop/mashed potatoes because temps rose so dramatically. i was happy to be ble to get out of there relatively quick with skis vs. hiking.

i saw people *hiking* up from boyscout after 1pm. it had to have been miserable -- they would sink in up to their waists, and, as you know, that area is a boulder field, so it's easy to break a leg.

i recommend either moving early before things warm up, or late after things have a chance to cool back down at least a bit.

oh yeah...going down the ledges after a long day with a big pack + skis strapped on it is fun!

[skimoore]

I did Whitney a couple years back...except we were lame and spent a night at high camp...so overall a two day trip. Still, an amazing trip, I just felt like kinda a pansy when some 55 yr old was trail running it past us.

and HA! Julio...another craptos local....(I was born and raised...)